FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says the party of Lincoln must improve its efforts to bring black voters back to the fold and that he wants an inclusive GOP.
Trump has been working in recent days to boost his appeal among African-American voters. On Saturday, he assured supporters at a rally in Virginia that he and the GOP are up to the task.
“I fully recognize that outreach to the African-American community is an area where the Republican Party must do better, and will do better,” Trump said in Fredericksburg, located between Richmond and Washington in the critical battleground state of Virginia.
Trump noted the GOP’s ties to Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president and the chief executive who issued the proclamation freeing slaves, and said, “I want our party to be a home of the African-American voter once again.”
Trump’s new minority outreach efforts followed a shake-up in his campaign management in the face of falling poll numbers that quickly prompted noticeable changes to his campaigning tactics. In Fredericksburg, he spoke with the aid of a teleprompter, as he has at rallies all this week, and continued to strike a more inclusive, less caustic tone.